Secret in the sand
by JForward
Summary: 10 & Rose. The inhabitants of Lite Biln have always been peaceful. But something has changed, and poisons are filling the air. Can the Doctor stop the creatures in the sand? Or is there something more sinister at work?
1. Chapter 1

The doctor bounced out of the TARDIS doors, landing on sand, turning and spreading his arms, "Rose, I welcome you to the planet of Lite Biln, and the beautiful city of Wetchu wond-" he trailed off, having whirled back to gesture at where Wetchu Wonderi should've been, and instead been gesturing at nothing.

The sky was a very, very pale lilac, almost white, bright enough to make Rose squint; she couldn't see a sun, at all, because of the glaring brightness, but she assumed there must be several. The ground they stood on was sand-like, but not white or gold, but something closer to green; some grains were dark and muddy toned, others closer to sand she knew, and the rest any and every shade of green. In the distance to the west, there was what looked like a line of low bumps - sand dunes or mountains, she couldn't tell. It was disconcerting but beautiful. The doctor wore his full outfit, but his tie was loosened, anticipating the heat; it felt like Turkey, or some other exotic country. Rose herself wore denim shorts and a strappy black shirt, along with logical trainers. Flip flops weren't good for running.

She grinned, standing next to the doctor and looking around. "Well, it's beautiful. And hot. About time you brought me somewhere hot." she nodded, then looked around at the unbroken landscape, though the Doctor seemed to be squinting at something in the distance. "Well. Are we going to go back into the TARDIS and move to the town? I mean, it's too hot to walk, and-" she had turned to go back into the TARDIS but he held out a hand, murmuring "Wait. Look." she stopped talking, turning where he was gesturing, and now her eyes could see it. A half dozen shapes, wavering in the heat, getting closer every moment. From what she could guess they were about human height, probably sixish feet, but their shapes… she waited, silent.

A handful of minutes passed and the shapes were becoming a lot clearer, still silhouettes. They must have travelled a huge distance in that time - or truly, it could be none, with the desert warping. Rose was curious, but the Doctor was leaning forward, eagerly, "It must be." he murmured, a grin starting to spread, "I've never seen a wild herd before!" Rose frowned up at him, "You know what they are?" she asked, cautiously, "Are they dangerous?" and the Doctor laughed, the grin stretching his mouth as he looked at her. They were getting closer, the shape distinctly reptillian. "Dangerous? They could rip you apart. They are so strong, so fast, and yet… they are friendly. These creatures have been trained as beasts of burden on this planet since the first settlers crash landed…" he trailed off, rambling more facts, and Rose stared at the shapes that she could now see in colour.

They were seven in number, each between six and six and half feet tall, each with brown scaled skin, each with different markings, in tones of blue and green and richer dark browns. All had six or more bands on their long tails and ran upright, their appearance almost exactly that of a t-rex or a raptor; but each had a pair of creamy horns and a crest of six feathers, currently flat on their head and neck, varying across every shade in the rainbow. Their tails - although the time lord and companion couldn't see- ended in half a spade, the bulge on the underside. As they got closer, dust kicking up, they began to slow, two-pronged hands flexing in the air. One of them, the largest, came to a complete standstill about twenty feet away and the others stopped behind him, milling a little, uttering low clicking cries to each other.

"_Amicusarus." _the Doctor murmured, broad smile still in place. "The people here call them Choburn, after the first of their kind to be tamed." he grinned, wider, and the head one took a few cautious steps forward. Now that they'd stopped running they stood higher, more like humans; it's head tilted sideways, the crest rising half way, and let out a low pitched click. The doctor clucked his tongue back at it and it took a few steps forward. "It's like a wild horse, Rose." he murmured to her, smiling, "Go up to him, slowly. He won't mind." she looked at him, wide-eyed, "Why not you?" and he laughed, softly. The creature clicked at the noise. "They like girls better. Go on." she edged forward, trusting him, and tried clicking at the Choburn. It took a few steps towards her, slowly, and soon there was only a foot between them.

Uncertain, she lifted her hand, and it lowered it's head, sniffing uncertainly; she could see the deadly sharp teeth as it's mouth opened slightly. Then it lifted it's head and stepped right in front of her, resting a head on her shoulder. She jumped and it stepped back, bobbing it's head, crest rising and falling. She heard the doctor laugh and lifted her hand again, stroking it's cheek. It chittered, apparently happily, and closed it's wide golden eyes. The scales were silky smooth, shockingly cold, and she smiled nervously. The rest of the herd clicked more, apparently happily, and she watched them move around, the braver ones going up to the Doctor, who scratched them on the strange protusion above each eye, protecting it, tipped with a sharp but very short claw. It seemed to be bone, but as he scratched it they made happy noises.

"Aren't they wonderful?" he called gleefully to Rose, but then there was a whip crack noise in the air and they all jumped, on high alert. "I wonder…" he murmured, moving over to her and touching the side of the biggest one. It turned to look at him again, with a surprisingly emotional face. "Shh, shh…" he murmured, "Let me help, come on…" he rested his other hand on it's head and it closed it's eyes too. Then after a minute it chattered and the doctor pulled away. "Rose." his voice had taken a turn for the serious, and she felt her heart sink as it pounded with adrenaline. He turned around and looked, "Do what I do but to that one." he gestured to the second largest. "Trust them, you won't hurt them or get hurt…"

And with that ambiguous status he put his hand on either side of the Choburn's head, gripping the long horns, and put a foot on it's shoulder joint, hefting himself up to sit on it like an upright horse. It looked… well, weird; but after Rose had nervously managed to do the same, there was a long screech and they all dropped down, into a pose more like all fours, arms tucked up below them. With the doctor on his steed in the lead, they began to run in a V formation, straight toward the line of blurry lumps in the distance.


	2. Chapter 2

**Thank you for reading. Sorry about forgetting the disclaimer on chapter one - long time since I did a whofic! Anyhow… don't own dr who, etc etc, little rusty at fanfics too, so bear with me!**

They ran through the hot sand for what felt like forever, to Rose; but in truth it was about fifteen minutes. The beasts seem to have some kind of internal compass and ran tirelessly. Her legs ached from the strange position the dinosaur like ribs held her, but she was grateful that she apparently couldn't fall off. She had to keep her head low to avoid getting stinging sand in her eyes, so talking to the Doctor was impossible; she only was aware of them stopping when she almost fell off backward from it straightening. Then she felt a hand on hers and lifted her head. The sandy wind was no longer noticeable, and the doctor was next to her, grinning. Looking up, she gasped.

In front of them, just a hundred or so feet away, was a massive city; gleaming structures of deep reddish tones, like rust but shiny, poked the sky above. Black clouds circled the tallest tower, the tip in the sky, not going anywhere, just in endless circles. Pod-shaped small homes and bigger things that must've been businesses surrounded it in apparently a circle. As she slid down the larger beast appeared behind the Doctor, the flare of feathers on it's head rising up and flashing the deep purple and blues to her. She stroked it's nose gently and it chirruped, and then, in surprising speed, it turned and the group ran away. She watched them until they faded in the sand, then turned back to the gleaming buildings.

"How on earth didn't we see these?" she asked, gaping again. Every look revealed more detail; there were things that looked like gargoyles and angels carved from the same metallic stuff rising up the tower. "It's got a disruption field." he informed her, turning to face where the beasts had run away, "It hides the city from any viewers; you can't see it from the atmosphere or a certain distance about a mile out from here…" the Doctor was frowning softly as he said it, and Rose looked at him, "They didn't have it last time I visited." he murmured, and took her hand, "Right, I dunno about you, but I fancy some chips." she stared at him, blankly, "They have chips on an alien planet?" she asked, bluntly, and he grinned widely, tugging her along until she gave up and walked alongside him to the alien city gleaming ahead of them.

"Are chips like, a staple food on every planet?" Rose asked the doctor, looking down at her plate. She was sat in one of the prettier restaurants; the bottom was a pod, shaped like a capsule, and the top scooped up another level, making it look like the scoopy bit of a spoon was glued on top. There was, not surprisingly, solar cells on the top, the could be rotated and lifted or lowered. The Doctor had told her all about it and the origins of the planet as a research station when they'd been looking for a place to eat. Currently he was sat across from her, each of them with a plate in front of them, sat on chairs in front of a table. Everything looked like it was carved from a strange wood or coral material; the table had that strange metallic top, which, up close, looked scaly, like skin, and was a deep yellow-gold. The plates were smooth, as were the chair, in pinky shades and smoothed down. The food looked like… well, chips, except that they were harsher cut, and looked more like dried fruit strips, in bright blues and greens.

The Doctor grinned. "You'll find chipped food everywhere. It's easy. That's why humans are so predictable. They _love _easy food." he picked up a chip - they were cold, and he used his fingers - then popped it in his mouth. Rose mimicked him, eyes widening in surprise. The outside texture was like her classic potato chip, kinda rough and feeling greasy, plump with the soft inside; but when she bit she got a strange, slight burst of juice, that was savoury, kind of salty and fruity all at the same time, and the texture inside was like a strange mix of mango and potato. "These're delicious." she said, shocked, and he grinned. "They make them from their equivalent of a potato, really; it grows the best in these soils. But they can grow things from other planets too, mainly because they have the rain here. The rain tower - it's almost a religious thing for them. So clever, too-" Rose zoned out a little as the Doctor described how they used chemicals and other things to help summon the clouds. She stared out of the window, at the rough-paved roads that had appeared as they entered the city properly, but her eyes were soon drawn to the others dining inside.

They had been served calmly; the TARDIS translators working as well as ever, just giving the waitress a slight, lilting accent that reminded Rose of a friend who visited her neighbour once; he'd lived in Ireland almost all his life, but his parents and family were South African. His accent had been astounding, and beautiful; she could've listened to it all day. The doctor had informed her that they were called Pelations, and this city itself was Pelatia - that, roughly, translated as "Golden petal" in English. They looked humanesque; a little shorter, but with more graceful limbs and proportions, small black claws on their hands that had flared fingertips, and slanting eyes, that were two or three times bigger than her own. She would've described them as elfin. They all seemed to have colour mottling down their arms and over their hands, and she frowned. "Why is everything so bright here?" she asked, after chewing another couple of chips, interrupting the Doctor's ramble. He broke off.

"Ah! Good question. You see how big their eyes are?" she nodded, still watching one of them move around, slinking like a cat almost. "Their vision isn't good. They can't really make out subtleties in dark things, so everything they make is bright bright bright." he grinned, "It's one of the reasons why their hands are like that. The skin…" he took her hand, turning it palm upward to demonstrate, "The pigment all concentrates here." he pressed in the centre, "and they use it to communicate. When they're feeling certain emotions, the colours flare up; it's quite human, too, in the reflections. Red for anger, pinks for lust or contentment, greens for illness, etc. Some of the best actors here can control it completely; but most people can't. It makes it hard for them to lie." he ate a couple more chips, releasing Rose's hand. She smiled, looking over, fascinated, at the waitress and some other people talking. She noticed now how they always had a hand up on the table - except for a couple that looked like they were doing business.

For clothing they seemed to be wearing a leathery skin, which looked disconcertingly like that of the creature they had ridden there. It tended to be like a strappy tee, but without the front, tying around the hips and the neck. There was no way of telling males from females except that the more masculine looking ones seemed to have elongated faces, like cats; heavy browns. The older ones seemed to have dark markings below their cheeks. As they finished their food the Doctor stretched, "Right. Would you like to see the tower?" he asked her, grin back in place, and Rose grinned back happily. "Without a doubt."


	3. Chapter 3

_**Still don't own it. Reviews are blood and oxygen - I die without them…**_

_They were striding down the street toward the tower, still hand in hand, through the mostly-unpopulated streets. The heat in here was less, and as they got closer to the tower the air got cooler and more moist. "What're these buildings made of?" Rose asked him, looking up at the tower still; the detail got more fascinating the closer they got. "Well, that's the fascinating thing. It's rock." he grinned, boyish happiness abound, "They mined it when they got here; that's what they were researching. In a few hundred years they begin exporting it. It's one of the most malleable things available, you can make it grow, polish it, melt and stretch it - it's crazily powerful, and it's not available anywhere else. It won't establish. They don't know what caused it, either." he grinned and nodded happily, and she looked up at the tower, fascinated. "It beautiful." she murmured, looking at the coppery heights and the intricately wraught things. Then, without warning, there came a loud crashing noise and a muffled, crumpling boom _noises, that shook the ground hard enough to knock them to their knees. There was a cry; the dwellers poking their heads out of their homes, all staring in the same direction, and as they looked the Doctor got up, pulling Rose with him and staring in the same direction. Then it became clear; it looked like the fallout from a nuclear bomb, a wall of sand building powerfully, rocketing toward them.

His eyes grew wide and as people darted back into their homes he ran to a door before it could shut, "Please!" he gasped, and the alien opened the door wide, tugging them in and then slamming the door, bolting it. It pulled metal shutters over the door and looked at them, the flesh up it's arms and on it's neck flashing white in panick. "Quick, quick!" it babbled, rushing them through the home and into a small, off-room, indicating a panel on the floor. Rose climbed in first, as she did so triggering a motion sensor light to what looked like a stone bomb shelter. The doctor sat next to her as the male sealed the door above them and sat down, staring at them as the white faded down to a pale brown. "You are not from this planet." he commented, after a long, measured pause, and Rose smiled nervously. The Doctor, seemingly knowing, reached forward his right hand, palm up. The creature took it in it's long hands, and, as her side was against the Doctor's, she could feel a slight shiver run up him.

"You are tricuspids." it murmured, releasing the hands and letting it's own palms flash blue to green. The Doctor nodded, smiling again, resting his hands on his legs. There came a boom from above and the room shook; all eyes flickered nervously to the ceiling. "What's happening?" Rose asked, and the response was a flash of colours, then, "They are striking. The creatures in the sand." the Doctor looked around at him curiously. "My name is Vashkid." he introduced himself, focusing on Rose, "The creatures… we know not what they are. They frighten our herds, and create these explosions. Our shields, they cannot stop them; anyone who stands in the open during these, their scales are scoured clean from the bones." he shuddered slightly. "The air, it turns poison, afterward. So many dead - the anger, that rises when the poison air is inside…" he tapped his chest and shook his head, the palm flashing colours of fear and horror.

The Doctor frowned again, glancing at Rose. "When will it be safe to go above?" he asked and Vashkid flashed uncertainty, but Rose could only tell that when he spoke with a headshake, "I do not know, an hour, two.." he stood, moving over to what looked like a thermometer in a wall, tapping it. "It started several months ago. These creations, our best theryias installed them. They tell us when the poison is past. Some use it." he looked… sad, almost, for a moment. "They wish for discordance, and our selves, we do not have the strength-" he tapped his chest again, "to fight for it. So they go, and they breathe, and they use the rage they have never before felt." he sat down, heavily. "They go against everything we stand for." his palms flashed a myriad of emotions and he closed his eyes. Rose took the opportunity to murmur "Theryias?" to the Doctor, to be informed they were like scientists. Then quiet fell as the three waited for the monitor to inform them it was safe to leave.


	4. Chapter 4

**Still don't own it. Plot's picking up now. Hooray plot!**

Rose had almost dozed off against the Doctor and Vashkid seemed to be meditating when the timer gave a rather microwave-like "Ping!" noise. All three started, though Vashkid far more gracefully than the rest, and he glided to his feet. Opening the hatch, he offered them a warm orange glow from his hands. "Thank you for the company." he murmured. "It has been a more enjoyable time than I would have alone." he let them up into the main room, sealing the door behind them. His house was furnished - well, like a humans, without a TV. There was something that could be a radio in the corner, with sofas, a table, and something that looked almost exactly like a human kitchen. Rose was astonished. "May I offer you a drink?" he smiled at them, flashing warm colours, "A treat of this land; I doubt you shall have tried it." he headed to the fridge, opening it, and revealing a cool interior; the Doctor leaned in and murmured to her, "The technology is more advanced than at home. It keeps every single item at it's ideal temperature." as he emerged with what looked almost like a wineskin made from the skin of some fruit. Out emerged three small shot-like glasses, and he poured a golden liquid into each, offering it to them both. The Doctor took his, and touched two fingers to the brown of his nose, which Rose imitated. Looking pleased by acknowledgement of a custom, Vashkid downed his in one.

As the Doctor did so, Rose took a cautious sniff of it; it smelled like sweet flours, apricots and almonds. She swallowed it as had the others; it seemed thinner than water, and left a warm burn like alcohol in her stomach, sweet and delicious. She felt warmth in the tips of her fingers; refreshing her body like a sleep. "Wow. That's amazing." she murmured, and the Doctor looked very happy as they handed the glasses back. "Thank you for the honour. I've always wished to taste the nectar." Vashkid smiled and bowed his head a little. "I wish you well in all your pursuits." he murmured, and it sounded formal. The Doctor placed two fingers on his throat. "May you guard your heart against usurpers." he murmured, and Vashkid looked overjoyed. Too nervous to mimic him, Rose followed the Doctor out the door. In the street, all was eerily quiet.

"Right." the Doctor murmured, after a moment, looking at the sky. Black clouds from the tower were spreading over the town. "I think they plan for rain. So…" he looked at her. "Fancy going and taking a look at the 'creatures in the sand'?" he asked, grinning widely. Rose groaned, "I don't have a choice, do I?" she murmured and he laughed as he took her hand, heading toward the edge of the bubble. They could see, even now in the distance, where the boom had come from was a low ridge of sand. They walked toward and out of the bubble, feeling the heat again as soon as they cleared it. It was a strange sensation and Rose rubbed her chest as they left. They could see the ridge; it looked like a mile walk or so and she groaned at the thought of the walk in this heat. The doctor gave her a nudge, "Cheer up, Tyler." he teased, "It's good for you! I wanna see what's there."

By the time they got there Rose was crazy thirsty. When they reached the ridge the Doctor reached into his pocket and pulled out a bottle of powerade, handing it to her wordlessly. She suppressed her anger in exchange for enjoying a few large gulps of the drink, then handed it back. He took just a sip and then they climbed the ridge to look down at where the explosion had been. Crouched onto the edge, they were silent as they looked down; the explosion had revealed what looked like the opening of a sewage pipe in design, but was huge around, with scorch marks on the innards. Sand was already falling back down into it, and a narrow ladder ran along the near side. He glanced at Rose and she gave him a determined look back as he pulled his sonic out, pointing it into the tunnel. The echo came back for almost a minute when he pulled it back, reading it. "Hm." he frowned. Rose raised an eyebrow as he tucked it away. "Most of it seems to be shielded. This bit isn't very deep, though; and I can read there's a safe passageway more meant for humanoids inside. So." he grinned at her, "Shall I go first?"


End file.
